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THE 

METHODIST 
AN'S 

BURDEN 

















THE 

METHODIST MANS 

BURDEN 



BY 
WILLIAM NESBITT BREWSTER 

A Missionary to the Chinese 

Lecturer on Missions in 

Boston University School of Theology 

for the Scholastic year 1913-14 

Author of "The Evolution of New China." 
"The Cost of Christian Conquest/' 



f 



PRESS OF 

THE METHODIST BOOK CONCERN 

NEW YORK CITY 

1913 



^ <A 



: 4 



Copyright, 1913, by 
WILLIAM NESBITT BREWSTER 



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©CI.A854887 



TO THE LAYMEN OF THE 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH 

THIS BOOKLET IS PRAYERFULLY 

DEDICATED BY 

THE AUTHOR 



I 

WHY WEIGH IT? 

THE General Committee of Foreign Mis- 
sions of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church is in session in an Atlantic sea- 
board city. The usual routine has been finished, 
and all are impatient for adjournment. 

A layman, who is a large manufacturer of 
goods for foreign markets, secures the floor : 

"Mr. Chairman, for a good many years it has 
been a part of my business to investigate con- 
ditions in foreign countries with a view to build- 
ing up trade. The company with which I am 
connected has expended many thousands of dol- 
lars to get accurate information concerning 
foreign situations. Every such dollar spent has 
brought large returns. I believe that one reason 
why men of the church are failing to respond 
to our appeals is that we have no program to 
offer them based upon careful and systematic 
investigation. I have never yet heard any 
authentic statement as to the size of the task we 
as a church have undertaken in the foreign mis- 
sion fields and what would be a reasonable esti- 
mate of the men and money required to meet 
the needs of these various fields. I therefore 
offer the following : 

"Resolved, That a Commission of Seven be 
appointed for the purpose of investigating: 

"1. For what portion of the unevangelized 
sections of the world's population may we con- 
sider ourselves responsible in the various mis- 
sion fields? 

"2. What will be a probable minimum re- 



6 METHODIST MAN'S BURDEN 

quirement in missionaries and money to meet 
this responsibility during the first half of the 
twentieth century?" 

The proposition seems so reasonable that it 
is about to be adopted without debate, when an 
apostolic man of ripe and varied experience, 
to whom all listen with deserved reverence, 
obtains the floor: 

"The problem of the evangelization of the 
Christless nations is too complicated, and shifts 
too much from year to year, for any group of 
experts on earth to make a reliable estimate of 
its cost. We are dealing with spiritual forces, 
and these intangible entities are the most subtle, 
as well as the most powerful, in the universe. 
How God will bring about the spiritual birth of 
a nation in a day Ave have no means of estimat- 
ing. Unforeseen political and social events 
may greatly hinder the work in certain fields, 
while upon the other hand, when his 'Spirit 
shall be poured out upon all flesh,' our little 
arithmetic will be set at naught, and our feeble 
faith rebuked by victories undreamed of in 
our moments of most exalted optimism. Let us 
not limit the Holy One of Israel. 'Not by an 
host, . . . but by my Spirit, saith Jehovah.' " 

There seems no hope for the resolution after 
such influential, and apparently reasonable, 
opposition; but before the motion for tabling 
can be made, the mover of the resolution claims 
his right to close the debate: 

"Mr. Chairman, the great truths which we 
have just heard must be admitted by all of us 
here whose creed declares 'I believe in the Holy 
Ghost.' However, these are but half-truths. I 
am no theologian, but the apostle Paul was, 
and he speaks distinctly of 'the law of the 



WHY WEIGH IT? 



Spirit.' If we can only get at the working 
principles of that 'law,' I see no good reason 
why we ma}' not reach approximately accurate 
conclusions regarding results. 

"When a promoter comes to persuade me to 
take stock in a distant gold mine or business 
enterprise in a foreign land, if he tells me that 
he has no idea how much investment will be 
required before dividends may be expected, or 
what the rate of the dividends, I set him down 
as an adventurer or a fool. I may give him a 
dollar to get rid of him, but I buy no stock. 

"Now, I believe that it is this absence of a 
credible prospectus that is a powerful factor 
in keeping the average Methodist man from 
taking stock in the foreign mission enterprise. 
He gives a dollar to get rid of the solicitor. It 
seems to him too much like putting his money 
into a hole. Nor will he invest until we take the 
matter out of the air and give a concrete scheme 
that inspires confidence that we are not vision- 
aries. 

"No sensible man will insist upon a hard- 
and-fast estimate that, like the laws of Calculus, 
cannot be changed. New elements will arise 
and new knowledge will be gained. But we 
have been in this foreign mission business now 
for three quarters of a century, and we have 
experts in every field. We ought to be able to 
tell approximately what we could do if we had 
more to do with. It may be that our estimates 
will have to be revised over and over again, as 
the Panama Canal engineers had to revise their 
first figures. New ideals of the scope of mission 
work may make it necessary to broaden and 
deepen the highway of the nations journeying 
to the City of God. Even so may it be! As 



8 METHODIST MAN'S BURDEN 

was done with the Panama calculations, the 
revised estimates will be scrutinized, but not 
repudiated; and the new budget, if there be 
one, will be an outgrowth of the old. It will be, 
in my judgment, wholly impossible to secure 
the respectful attention, much less the hearty 
cooperation, of the average Methodist business 
man in this great work of world regeneration 
so long as our budget is a vague 'All we can 
squeeze out of you.' " 

There are cries of "Question !" and the mo- 
tion prevails without division. 



II 

THE BREAKFAST CONFERENCE 

IT is a bright Sunday morning in June. 
Three missionaries of the Foochow and 
Hinghwa Conferences are gathered around 
the breakfast table in the residence of the presi- 
dent of the Anglo-Chinese College at Foochow, 
China. They are discussing the problems of 
the Kingdom. The Commission of Seven has 
sent out its carefully drawn up questionnaire, 
and the possible answers are a subject of absorb- 
ing interest. 

The problem of population is not an easy 
one in China, where no accurate census has ever 
been taken. Approximate estimates by the 
government are quoted and the careful observa- 
tions of years utilized. Each civil district or 
prefecture is gone over. Other societies work- 
ing in the same region are allowed their due 
proportion, and the total — "What? Seven 
and one half millions ! These one hundred mis- 
sionaries and five hundred Chinese preachers 
of all grades expected to evangelize a popula- 
tion half as numerous as the whole numerical 
responsibility in America of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, with its one hundred and twenty- 
seven Conferences and Missions, its fourteen 
thousand effective ministers, and three and a 
quarter million members!" 

The silence is broken with, "How many mis- 
sionaries will be needed?" 

"The last Central Conference of China, which 
carefully considered this problem, put the gen- 



10 METHODIST MAN'S BURDEN 

eral average at 'One missionary, of either the 
General Society or Woman's Board, or the wife 
of a missionary, for each twenty-five thousand 
of the population.' This was not laid down as 
a hard-and-fast rule for all countries, nor all 
missionaries. Fields differ widely, and mission- 
aries are no more equally efficient than other 
groups of Christian workers. However, it was 
thought that this was a fair average for China. 
This agrees substantially with estimates of 
other authorities." 

The above deliverance from the Veteran of 
the group is long enough to give the others time 
to figure out that at this rate the Fukien field 
will call for one hundred families and as many 
unmarried women, or a multiplication of the 
present force by three. 

"We are expensive agents," remarked the 
man with the largest family. "Exotics are 
always costly plants. We travel back and forth 
at least every seven or eight years, and oftener 
when there is a break-dow T n. We have children 
to educate. Residences are necessary. The cost 
of living in all parts of the world is steadily 
increasing, and the changes will be more violent 
in the Orient than in the Occident, for here the 
standard has been so much lower. I believe it 
will average one thousand dollars a year to care 
for these foreign missionaries during the next 
few decades." 

The Bachelor is disposed to consider the 
figure somewhat excessive until reminded that 
the admirably managed International Commit- 
tee of the Young Men's Christian Association 
calls for annual gifts of tw T o thousand dollars 
to support a missionary family in the Orient, 
and finds the margin small enough. 



THE BREAKFAST CONFERENCE 11 

"What would you do with two hundred new 
missionaries if they suddenly arrived from 
America ?" is a startling question that sends 
all three into a brown study. 

"There is no danger of any such calamity," 
finally remarks the senior of the trio. "It would 
be little short of a calamity, I admit. The 
starving man who gorges himself commits sui- 
cide. But the three hundred thousand dollars 
a year will not come so easily as all that; nor 
is suitable missionary material so abundant. 
While the church is reaching the proposed new 
standard of giving, and the young people are 
getting ready, the field will be preparing gradu- 
ally to receive and digest the nourishment. Give 
the church in America and the church in China 
a decade to reach this maximum force, and 
neither will be severely strained." 

"It's easy enough to see that we foreigners 
are not planning to be the whole thing," re- 
marks the Iowa man. "This would put one 
family and a single lady to seventy-five thou- 
sand people. The capital of my native State, 
with one pastor, aided by his wife and a dea- 
coness, would be considered a needy enough 
home mission field!" 

"Yes, thank God, we do not have to do it all. 
Indeed, we are the smaller part of it. I remem- 
ber that same Central Conference Committee 
thought we should aim during this generation 
to put a trained preacher and a Bible woman 
into every two thousand of the population, for 
which we plan. We would then have less than 
one third of the present American proportion 
of ministers." 

"Here is where our work comes in," says 
the Educator. "We need to sharpen both our 



"12 METHODIST MAN'S BURDEN 

pencils and our wits, to figure out an approxi- 
mate estimate of the cost of such a complicated 
system for the creation of a Christian civiliza- 
tion. Who is sufficient for these things? I 
confess I shrink from such a seemingly impos- 
sible task." 

"We missionaries must all learn the potency 
of callous knees. No amount of money will 
ever purchase the redemption of the Christless 
nations. It cost too much in the beginning. 
The lifeblood of thousands must be poured out. 
The rich alone can no more do this great work 
than the poor alone." 

But the Bachelor brings the Veteran back to 
the stern realities of present problems: "Well, 
we all know that God is not limited by bank 
accounts; yet in modern mission work, bills of 
exchange seem to form a necessary factor of all 
large and permanent operations. Now, assum- 
ing that the human agents are normally 
spiritual and faithful, what are we to estimate 
as a probable outlay to prepare such a large 
number of trained workers? We must, of 
course, count upon a very large amount of 
shrinkage. Unless this is allowed for, our 
figures will be of little value." 

The three heads are so close together and the 
figuring is so complicated that we fail utterly 
to follow through the maze of "primary 
schools," "preparatory institutions," "colleges." 
"Printing presses," "preachers," "chapels," 
"parsonages," "hospitals," "orphanages" are 
mingled in most bewildering fashion, while 
"self-support," "indigenous resources" are ex- 
pressions that come in with every department. 
We begin to wonder if this thing will ever end? 

"There goes the church bell!" exclaims the 



THE BREAKFAST CONFERENCE IB 

Bachelor. "I must go to the 'Church of Heav- 
enly Rest' to lead the singing." 

"We have been here for three hours, uncon- 
scious of the flight of time. Let us see where 
we are. These figures total three quarters of 
a million dollars for the last year of this decade, 
and a gradual increase up to that amount. That 
is about four times what both Foreign Boards 
are now investing," remarks the Mission Treas- 
urer. 

The informal meeting adjourns rather 
abruptly. They have scarcely left the room 
when the Veteran rushes back with perceptible 
excitement. He calls for the others to come for 
just a moment. "That population figure of 
seven million five hundred thousand and that 
maximum annual budget of seven hundred and 
fifty thousand dollars for ten years hence have 
a remarkable relation to each other. The people 
are just ten times the dollars. We plan to 
spend ultimately ten cents of American money 
per capita per annum upon this Fukien field. 
That is the simplest possible unit of calculation. 
If this is an average field, and our estimates 
fairly correct, it would be a simple matter to 
make a maximum budget for the entire respon- 
sibility of the church by finding the population 
and dividing it by ten to get the number of 
dollars." 

We learn later that the fruits of this Break- 
fast Conference are carefully scrutinized by the 
entire body of Fukien Methodist missionaries, 
and with slight changes in detail, but none in 
total, they are forwarded, with explanatory 
notes, to the Commission of Seven. 



Ill 

THE BURDEN 

A MISSIONARY SECRETARY sits at 
his desk with his opened mail. It is a 
stormy day and the customary inter- 
ruptions are less frequent. Five months ago 
he sent out the questionnaire concerning the 
budget and here are the replies. The Commis- 
sion is to meet this afternoon and a report must 
be in shape for them. The China field is early 
in evidence. "West China Conference embraces 
twenty million people," is the report. "Central 
China is working in three provinces aggregat- 
ing a population of over sixty millions. Mak- 
ing due allowance for other societies, we consider 
ourselves responsible for at least fifteen 
millions." The North China report reads: "Of 
the thirty millions in our territory, one third 
is not excessive for our responsibility." The 
Fukien report is very conservative: "Seven and 
one half millions for two large Annual Confer- 
ences." 

"Fifty-two and one half millions in China 
alone, while Japan and Korea add another nine 
millions," soliloquizes the Secretary. 

The nine Conferences and Missions of South- 
ern Asia he finds put at fifty -three and one half 
millions. Twenty -two millions of black faces 
loom in the background as he reads of Africa, 
while the thirteen millions in Roman and Greek 
Catholic lands, in the Old World and the New, 
fill up the measure of the burden until it seems 

unbearable. 

14 



THE BURDEN 15 



"What! Two o'clock? And I have for- 
gotten to go to lunch!" He turns to greet a 
group of men at that moment entering his 
office. 

"Good afternoon, gentlemen! You are on 
time and all together." 

"Yes, we met at our favorite lunchroom and 
talked over our work a little. We have been 
wondering why we did not find you there too." 

"No, I did not care for lunch to-day. I've 
been studying these reports, and it is enough 
to drive away one's appetite. Here are the 
figures that total up one hundred and fifty 
millions in foreign lands, for whose evangeliza- 
tion our missionary leaders consider we have 
made ourselves responsible. The thought that 
I am a secretary of the society through which 
this work must be done, if at all, has been sweep- 
ing over me like ocean billows in a typhoon. I 
am simply overwhelmed by it." 

"In what sense are we as a church responsible 
for the evangelization of these vast popula- 
tions?" asks a layman. 

"Well, concerning some of the fields we have 
entered into definite agreements with other 
churches that we will take care of these people, 
and others have agreed to stay out. In North 
India, for example, Dr. Butler made such an 
arrangement with regard to a territory about 
five hundred miles long by one hundred and 
twenty wide. Eighteen millions of people were 
there at that time, and there are more than 
twenty millions now. In such fields these multi- 
tudes must look to us alone for the gospel of 
Christ." 

"That is a fearful responsibility we are tak- 
ing upon ourselves," objects one of the group. 



16 METHODIST MAN'S BURDEN 

"Even in commerce monopolies are not good 
for the welfare of the people, nor for the morals 
of the monopolists. Where is the justification 
for a monopoly in the supply of the Christian 
religion to a province in India, any more than 
for a corner on wheat in Chicago? Let us 
throw down the bars and invite all Christendom 
to come in and help us save these multitudes." 

The silence that follows this deliverance shows 
that the argument seems well taken. What a 
simple and inexpensive way of getting rid of 
a large part of the Methodist Man's Burden 
this would be ! Queer that we had not thought 
of it before ! 

The secretary reaches for a pamphlet. "Un- 
fortunately we are not the only church that has 
a burden. Here is a report of a recent meeting 
of American and Canadian missionary secre- 
taries. One paper gives the results of an inves- 
tigation as to the field of responsibility of each 
large society. The American Baptist Foreign 
Mission Society confesses to a responsibility for 
eighty millions, while the Northern Presbyterians 
recognize one hundred millions as their foreign 
parish. The American Board gives definite 
figures in each field amounting to seventy-five 
millions, and so on through the list. Our 
American constituency is nearly three times that 
of the Northern Baptists, nearly two and one 
half times that of the Northern Presbyterians, 
and more than four times that of the Congre- 
gational Churches. These already have taken 
upon themselves all they can carry. If we do 
let down the bars, there will be no tumbling 
over them to get into our rich heritage of re- 
sponsibility. Every Northern Baptist com- 
municant carries the burden of sixty-six un- 



THE BURDEN 17 

evangelized men, women, and children for whom 
Christ died. Every Northern Presbyterian is 
expected to send the gospel message to seventy- 
five Christless souls. Each member of the Con- 
gregational Church stands committed to an 
average individual responsibility for one hun- 
dred and one in foreign lands. If we accept 
this entire one hundred and fifty millions as our 
exclusive parish, with our three million two 
hundred and thirty-five thousand American 
members, each of us will be carrying forty-six. 
That will make the average Methodist Man's 
Burden forty per cent less than the lightest load 
assumed by any of the other great missionary 
churches named. I do not see how we can face 
either God or man and reduce the load. Let us 
shoulder it like men!" 

The solemn silence following this deliverance 
is broken by a voice husky with emotion : 

"I move that the report of the Commission 
be that in our judgment the minimum foreign 
responsibility of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church is for not less than one hundred and 
fifty millions." 

There is no dissent. 

"What is the estimated cost of this work?" 
inquires a practical man of affairs. 

"The heaviest cost is not in dollars. How 
many of us have a son or a daughter to give?" 
asks the secretary. 

At length a wealthy layman breaks the pain- 
ful silence: "Sure enough, the homes of Meth- 
odism will pay the greatest price. We have 
heard too much of the money cost as compared 
with the lives of our ablest sons, our best-loved 
daughters. I could support half a dozen chil- 
dren of other men with less sacrifice than would 



18 METHODIST MAN'S BURDEN 

be required to give my only daughter. How 
many are called for?" 

"The most frequent figure seen on these 
sheets is one for every twenty-five thousand of 
the population to be evangelized, or one family 
for each fifty thousand. The unmarried women 
and wives of missionaries are reckoned equally 
in the twenty -five thousand estimate." 

"They don't want them all at once, do they ?" 

"By no means. A decade is allowed for 
reaching this maximum," replies the secretary. 

"That means six thousand men and women 
for the Methodist foreign parish after ten 
years, or at the rate of six hundred a year," 
says a quick calculator. "We might put it: 
Two hundred men, with their wives, and as 
many unmarried women annually." 

"Yes, it will take that many new people each 
year to raise our present force to six thousand 
in ten years, for the twelve hundred now on the 
field would not more than provide for the neces- 
sary losses by death, breakdowns, and retreats, 
among so many during the decade." The sec- 
retary heaves a sigh as he thinks of the long list 
of these "casualties" in the great campaign. 

"Where will you find two hundred men a 
year?" exclaims the Commissioner from the 
frontier. 

"In commerce the demand soon creates a 
supply," replies the Manufacturer. "It is no 
less true of the things of the Spirit. And I 
for one want to say that if the best of our young 
men and women, with life all before them, and 
opportunities without number here at home, are 
willing and eager to give themselves to the 
regeneration of pagan Asia and Africa, it is a 
shame and a disgrace that we who stay at home, 



THE BURDEN 19 

enjoying all the blessings of this Christian 
civilization, are not willing to send them. They 
offer their red heart's blood, and we withhold 
our yellow dirt! How much of it is called for?" 

"These figures do not claim to be the last 
word upon the subject; and they vary with the 
field and the point of view of the calculators ; 
but the most minute estimate, and what seems 
in the main to agree with the general average, 
calls for a gradual increase for the next decade 
until the maximum reaches about ten cents per 
capita for the population to be evangelized." 

"A foreign parish of one hundred and fifty 
millions at ten cents per capita calls for fifteen 
million dollars annually by the year 1923. 
That is a man's job, sure!" exclaims the Manu- 
facturer. 

It is time for the Laymen's Missionary 
Movement secretary to speak: "Yes, but it is 
less than five dollars apiece for us, or nine cents 
a week, even now; and if we make as good 
progress in membership in the next decade as 
in the past, it will be less than four dollars each 
by the time it is called for. The Laymen's 
Missionary Movement has already set the stand- 
ard of 'Five dollars per member for foreign 
missions.' Surely it is not for us to lower the 
figure that the men who are to give the money 
have voluntarily set up. 

"Moreover, at our present rate of giving of 
two and two fifths millions a year by the Foreign 
Board and the Woman's Society combined, to 
reach this fifteen-million figure in ten years, we 
will have to increase at the rate of only twenty 
per cent each year over the previous year. 
Looked at from this angle of gradual ascent, 
the climb does not seem so steep." 



20 METHODIST MAN'S BURDEN 

"Yes," says the Manufacturer, "that is an 
excellent way to put it. The momentum of 
such a movement ought to carry us forward at 
the rate of twenty per cent increase annually 
for a decade. It is positively easier to interest 
men in a big proposition than in a little one. 
Who would undertake to save a man from sin 
with a smaller expenditure than two street-car 
fares a year? Our 'two and two fifths million 
dollars' sounds well; but when given by over 
three and one quarter million people, it is only 
seventy-four cents for each of us. And when 
distributed among the one hundred and fifty 
millions of our foreign parish, it amounts to 
one and two thirds cents apiece ! Upon an 
average family of five we expend in a twelve- 
month the equivalent of the price of one quart 
of good dairy milk! That is one reason why 
practical men who are accustomed to do things 
cannot believe that we mean business when we 
talk about 'the evangelization of the world in 
this generation.' We are not using adequate 
means. 'The sincere milk of the Word' for 
famishing nations at an annual cost of two 
pints of cow's milk per family is too diluted for 
'the man in the street' to take seriously. This 
proposition is to make it six quarts. For my 
part I do not see how it can be done for that. 
It must be Omnipotence backing our impotence. 
Manifestly our missionary leaders are relying 
upon their converts' paying most of the cost. 
I move that we report the following: 

"We find that to meet our Methodist Episco- 
pal responsibility for the one hundred and fifty 
millions in our foreign parish, we call upon our 
people for the ensuing decade annually to dedi- 
cate six hundred of their sons and daughters 



THE BURDEN 21 



for this work ; and that their gifts in money be 
increased annually by twenty per cent over the 
previous year, so they gradually will raise their 
annual contributions to fifteen million dollars 
by the year 1923." 

And as the silent vote is taken, with every 
hand uplifted, as in pledge to God to help carry 
out the momentous resolution, instinctively with 
one accord these men bow before their Lord 
and pour out such prayer as comes only in mo- 
ments when strong men are in the very presence 
of their King. 



IV 

"THE COMMISSION ON FINANCE" 

"f I ^HE Commission will please come to 
|| order!" and the presiding bishop raps 
gently upon the table. 

"In this our first session, it may not be out 
of place to state briefly how and why we are 
here. The General Conference at Minneapolis 
was flooded with petitions to relieve the church 
of the multitudinous calls for financial help. 
Irresponsible parties exploited the churches. 
The success of each of these cries for aid de- 
pended largely upon the ability of the pleader, 
rather than upon the merits of the cause. It 
is not at all surprising that from 1908 to 1912 
the offerings from public congregations to the 
official benevolences fell off $15,127. We are 
here now to consider how we can concentrate 
interests and plan a campaign of conquest in- 
stead of simply 'holding the fort.' " 

The apportionment secretary secures the 
floor : "I move you, sir, that the percentages for 
the distribution of undesignated offerings be as 
follows : 

"Forty-four per cent, Board of Foreign Mis- 
sions. 

"Thirty-eight per cent, Board of Home Mis- 
sions and Church Extension. 

"Seven per cent, Freedmen's Aid Society. 

"Five per cent, Board of Sunday Schools. 

"Three per cent, Board of Education. 

"Two per cent, American Bible Society. 

"One per cent, Church Temperance Society." 
22 



"THE COMMISSION ON FINANCE" 23 

The apportionment secretary speaks as an 
expert, and though there is considerable dis- 
cussion, yet the Commission finally agrees to his 
proposition. 

The recording secretary of the Commission 
has a statement : 

"Gentlemen, the General Conference in- 
structed us to determine our askings 'upon the 
basis of present and probable future needs, 
and not upon the basis of former askings or per- 
centage.' Now I have here the askings of these 
several boards, and they total over twenty mil- 
lions. It will be sheer waste of time, in my 
judgment, to apportion such a huge sum to the 
churches at the agreed ratio, for it is fully six 
times the aggregate of the regular receipts from 
collections by these boards last year. We must 
reduce this to figures that are within the 
horizon, if the apportionments are to be taken 
seriously." 

All eyes are turned to the Ready Calculator, 
whose task is figuring the apportionments. 

"Mr. Chairman and Brethren, before the 
days of the Interstate Commerce Commission, a 
great railway magnate was accustomed to in- 
struct his managers to fix rates at 'All the traffic 
will bear.' Theoretically our apportionments 
are to be according to the needs of the work, 
but practically we are limited by the simple 
rule, 'All the churches will bear.' For example, 
take the Board of Foreign Missions. While the 
entire receipts last year were one million five 
hundred and thirty-nine thousand four hun- 
dred and ninety-four dollars, yet the Confer- 
ence collections were but one million forty-six 
thousand one hundred and fourteen dollars of 
this amount, or about two thirds of the whole. 



24 METHODIST MAN'S BURDEN 

Lapsed annuities, legacies, and special gifts 
reached nearly a half a million. In considering 
the amount to be apportioned to the Confer- 
ences, if we fix this at one million eight hundred 
thousand, while it will be a net increase from 
all sources of only twenty-three per cent, yet 
it will represent a total increase from the Con- 
ference collections of seventy-two per cent. An 
apportionment of that figure seems to me to 
be the maximum that the church will stand, and 
I move that it be so ordered." 

The Commission accepts this figure from the 
acknowledged expert; and the other items fol- 
low based upon the ratio already decided : 

Board of Foreign Missions. $1,800,000 

Board of Home Missions and Church 

Extension 1,560,000 

Freedrnen's Aid Society 270,000 

Board of Sunday Schools 210,000 

Board of Education 135,000 

American Bible Society 100,000 

Church Temperance Society 50,000 

Grand total $4,125,000 

Again the Ready Calculator rises: 
"While this sum is only an average of two 
and one half cents a week for each of our three 
million two hundred and thirty-five thousand 
members, yet it is a total advance over last 
year's actual receipts through these same 
channels, exclusive of special gifts, legacies, 
and such like, of one and one quarter millions, 
or forty-three per cent. We have not been 
idle in the past. What other church in Chris- 
tendom has a more thorough organization than 
we? And who have worked it more vigorously? 
To make, anything approaching such a large 
proportional advance in one. year will require 



"THE COMMISSION ON FINANCE" 25 

either a new method or an entirely new appli- 
cation of the old ; for such achievements never 
happen by mere enthusiasm." 

"What proposal have you to make to meet 
the case?" inquires the presiding bishop. 

"We have had in vogue for many years a 
system of apportionments that sometimes has 
worked well. Secretary McCabe used it with 
splendid effect in his great 'Million for Mis- 
sions' campaign. But we have never put it upon 
a rational basis, and there have been many com- 
plaints that it is not equitable. I have worked 
out a plan by which the four elements of church 
life are all accurately and proportionately 
recognized : 

"1. Membership in full. 

"2. Net valuation of property. 

"3. Total ministerial support. 

"4. Total disciplinary collections. 

"The method of calculation is simple, but too 
elaborate to present to you here. If you will 
appoint a small committee to work out the de- 
tails, it may be more satisfactory." 

The committee is appointed, and, of course, 
the Ready Calculator is its chairman. 

"What are my instructions?" 

"Mr. Chairman, I move that this apportion- 
ment secretary and his committee be directed to 
prepare printed lists of the equitable apportion- 
ments for each district in America by pastoral 
charges, and send them direct to the district 
superintendents; and the superintendents dis- 
tribute them to the pastors, with instructions 
that their charges are expected to raise the 
amounts indicated." 

This from a hitherto silent member of the 
Commission, 



26 METHODIST MAN'S BURDEN 

The senior Foreign Board secretary arises: 

"I fear that there will be little inspiration 
and much perspiration in a campaign that puts 
its plea chiefly upon a mathematical estimate, 
however 'equitable' it may be. Let us not for- 
get that the ideal 'As for Ourselves, so for 
Others,' has been our accepted motto for half a 
decade. We must trust our people if we w r ould 
lead them. The Divine standard is not too 
lofty; let us not lower nor ignore it. I move 
to amend by adding: 

"We call special attention of pastors and 
people that this apportionment is not intended 
as a goal, but a minimum, and that we again 
emphasize the standard already recognized by 
our church, 'As much for benevolences as for 
the local church budget.' " 

The new program is agreed to with enthu- 
siasm, and the Commission adjourns sine die. 



"CHASING— AROUND THE STUMP" 



"X X TE will begin the Quarterly Confer- 

^ ^ ence by singing that grand old 
hymn of victory, 'Onward, Chris- 
tian soldiers, marching as to war,' " announces 
Dr. Middleroad, the district superintendent. 

"I hope you will show a good increase in your 
membership this year," remarks Dr. Middle- 
road, after the hymn and his fervent prayer. 
"Most of the charges on my district seem to 
be at a standstill, but I am depending upon 'Old 
Hickory Street' to bring up the total, so that 
we will make a fair showing after all." 

"Thus far, I am sorry to say," replies Pastor 
Play fair, "we have only about held our own. 
We have taken in quite a number by letter, and 
a few adults have joined on probation, and will 
be received before Conference ; but we have been 
pruning our church tree of dead branches. 
There are a number who have been of no account 
to us for a long time, never attending church 
nor contributing a cent. The truth is that 
under the new financial plan we are being 
assessed for a lot of people who pay nothing. 
Our brethren felt it was unfair for the payers 
to meet their own bills and also pay for these 
'has-beens.' So we have taken off about as 
many names as we have added." 

"You will all be glad, I am sure," says Miss 

Joy, the Junior League superintendent, "to 

hear that there is a fine class of twenty-three of 

our Junior boys and girls who have been meet- 

27 



28 METHODIST MAN'S BURDEN 

ing regularly and doing splendidly in learning 
and living, and they would be glad to be received 
into the church any time. I can heartily recom- 
mend them. One is Brother Foresight's 
Jimmie, and several others are your own chil- 
dren." 

"That is splendid!" cried Dr. Middleroad. 
"These at least will be clear gain for the year's 
membership. We will take them in to-morrow." 

But the church treasurer does not look happy, 
and Dr. Middleroad is sensitive to gloom in that 
quarter. 

"What's the matter, Brother Foresight? Are 
you not pleased that your boy is following in 
your footsteps?" 

"Yes, Doctor, I am glad that Jimmie is a 
Christian; and I hope that he and all the boys 
and girls will keep on in the 'good old way their 
fathers trod.' But it seems to me that this is 
not the time to receive a large class of noncon- 
tributors into the church. Next year's appor- 
tionment is to be estimated in part upon our 
full membership reported this year. These chil- 
dren will add to our assessment for benevolences 
without contributing a dollar. Who is going 
to pay these bills?" 

"I confess I had not thought of that." Dr. 
Middleroad looks distressed. "It seems to me 
we should not commercialize even our children's 
reception into the church !" 

But the watchdog of the treasury persists. 
"These children are already reported as pro- 
bationers, and it will not hurt them to wait until 
after Annual Conference. It will be only six 
weeks. Then they can be taken in without im- 
mediately affecting the assessment." 

To avoid further discussion, Dr. Middleroad 



"AROUND THE STUMP" 29 

passes to the next question: "What change do 
you want made in the valuation of your prop- 
erty this year?" 

"I've been thinking that our reported valua- 
tion of fifty thousand dollars is too high," re- 
plies the president of the Board of Trustees. 
"Church property is not a good commercial 
investment, except when the site becomes valua- 
ble in old downtown churches. Here we are 
being assessed for these benevolences on a valua- 
tion of our property which correctly represents 
what we put into it, but if offered for sale, no 
one would pay anything like that amount. If 
the government taxed church property it would 
not be assessed at more than thirty thousand 
dollars. Now where is the justice of taxing our- 
selves at a higher rate than the State would 
consider just? I understand that the assessment 
for benevolences counts property at five dollars 
and twenty-three cents per thousand, so that we 
are charged two hundred and sixty-two dollars 
on our fifty-thousand-dollar valuation. If we 
reduce this by twenty thousand dollars, it would 
lower our assessment by one hundred and four 
dollars and sixty cents, which would be quite a 
relief. I therefore move that we put our prop- 
erty valuation at thirty thousand dollars." 

The motion prevails. 

Pastor Playfair politely retires as Dr. Mid- 
dleroad remarks, "Now we will talk about next 
year." A silence, and then, "What about the 
return of Brother Playfair? Does he fill the 
bill?" 

"We all love our pastor, and he has been 
working hard," replies the Sunday school super- 
intendent. "However, a good many of us think 
that a change might be a good thing for our 



30 METHODIST MAN'S BURDEN 

young folks. Can you not get for us young 
Dr. Hustler, who is at Advance Street Church 
in Rushville? People say he brings things to 
pass." 

"Perhaps Advance Street people will not 
agree to give up their successful preacher to 
accommodate you. He is getting fifteen hun- 
dred dollars and a house over there, and they 
will make it two thousand dollars rather than 
lose him. And that is all you are paying 
Brother Playfair," remarks the diplomatic 
superintendent. 

Recording Steward Goforth comes to the 
rescue: "If we can get Dr. Hustler by an ad- 
vance of five hundred dollars on salary, I think 
we ought to do it. You see we have just made 
a little over a hundred dollars off the benevolence 
budget by the new valuation, and we can get 
the extra four hundred in some way." 

"Has Brother Goforth forgotten that the 
one hundred dollars will not be all clear gain?" 
breaks in Treasurer Foresight excitedly. "We 
add five hundred dollars to our ministerial sup- 
port, and we will be assessed six dollars and 
thirty-eight cents per hundred, or thirty-one 
dollars and ninety cents more for our benevo- 
lences ; so that of the one hundred and four dol- 
lars and sixty cents he thought we had gained 
from benevolences, we have only seventy-two 
dollars and seventy cents left to apply to this 
proposed increase of five hundred dollars in 
order to secure the live preacher from Advance 
Street. Brethren, let us be cautious and not 
oversanguine. Business conditions are very un- 
certain. I favor letting well enough alone and 
not adding to our budget until we see where the 
money will come from." 



"AROUND THE STUMP" 31 

The Conference agrees. Pastor Playfair 
reenters, unconscious of his narrow escape. 

"What amounts have been received for 
benevolent causes this year?" reads Dr. Middle- 
road from his question list. 

Treasurer Foresight is again "on his feet. 
"We are having a peculiar time with our budget 
this year. We have more money than we know 
what to do with, yet we are not reaching our 
apportionment by twenty-five per cent." 

"That certainly is paradoxical! Please ex- 
plain yourself." 

"It is this way. Last winter our Brother 
Vision went to a Laymen's Missionary Conven- 
tion and came back a regular crank on foreign 
missions. He is not a rich man, but he gets a 
good salary in the Novelty Manufacturing 
Works here, and has an interest in the business 
as well. He came to me saying he wanted to 
give three hundred dollars this year for foreign 
missions alone. I said, 'Why, man ! that's nearly 
as much as the whole church is doing ! Are you 
gone clean crazy?' But he just smiled and said, 
'No, I've only come to myself.' Then I said, 
'That is all right, if you want to blow in your 
money that way, but next year our assessment 
will be raised twenty-nine dollars and fifty cents 
for each hundred dollars you give, and the 
rest of us will have to pay nearly ninety dollars 
more than we do now, or the church lose its 
rank.' 'Very well,' said he. 'If you don't want 
my money, I know how I can give it so it will 
not embarrass the other members of the church.' 
Later he handed me a receipt from the Foreign 
Board Office for three hundred dollars, which 
he had sent to build a chapel in China. How- 
ever, the voucher cannot be credited to our 



32 METHODIST MAN>S BURDEN 

church in the Conference minutes, because we 
are short seventy-five dollars on our assessment 
for Foreign Missions." 

"That reminds me," remarks the Sunday 
school superintendent. "The school made an 
advance of one hundred dollars in its collections 
this year that we thought might go to the 
Home and Foreign Mission Boards, but Brother 
Foresight explained to us that next year we 
would have to keep it up, and add another thirty 
dollars for the increased assessment, so we 
decided to purchase a new organ." 

"The Epworth League supports a preacher 
in India at fifty dollars, and gets letters of his 
work, has his photograph, and is quite enthusi- 
astic," the League president adds, "but that, 
too, cannot be credited, because the church is 
short on its apportionment." 

Deaconess Phoebe asks for the privilege of 
saying a few words : 

"It seems to me a great pity that when Old 
Hickory Street is doing so much for missions, 
yet it is classed by our church rules as one that 
is not reaching its apportionment. In addition 
to the three hundred and fifty dollars special 
gifts going to the foreign field that we have 
just heard of, we have two active women's so- 
cieties. This year they have raised in money 
and supplies fully six hundred dollars. This 
makes nearly one thousand dollars that our 
people are giving for missions at home and 
abroad, for which we get no recognition in the 
apportionments." 

Dr. Middleroad looks distressed. "It cer- 
tainly seems as though we have spent our whole 
evening chasing around this old stump and but- 
ting up against the apportionment system at 



"AROUND THE STUMP" S3 

every turn. You have had a fairly good year 
at Old Hickory Street, but no one would sus- 
pect it from your statistical report. If the best 
charge in the district scarcely holds its own, 
where will the medium and small ones appear? 
This Methodist Lazarus is alive all right, but 
we have 'bound him hand and foot with grave- 
clothes.' We must find some way to 'loose him 
and let him go.' After the reading of the 
records, you will stand adjourned." 



VI 
"LOOSE HIM AND LET HIM GO!" 

THE great convention of Methodist men 
has come together to face their Burden, 
to take stock of their latent strength, 
and to consider how that power may be put 
under the load. In numbers they equal the 
Spirit-baptized multitude at Pentecost. They 
are confronting a crisis no less acute than that 
of the company at Jerusalem. Already the 
Commission on Foreign Survey has presented its 
findings of one hundred and fifty millions. The 
probable cost in men and money has been con- 
sidered and accepted as a "reasonable service." 

The no less imperative appeal of the twelve 
millions of Americans for whom our three and 
one quarter million members are reckoned re- 
sponsible has been heard and there is no more 
disposition to shirk the Burden here than yon- 
der. The "city frontier," with its "million-a- 
year" increase, is admitted by these men of 
might as a major obligation and a prime oppor- 
tunity. The colossal higher education prob- 
lem, with its vast budgets and vital issues in 
the character and faith of the future genera- 
tions, has loomed before, but has not staggered 
them. They have seen not only the hosts of the 
enemy, but their eyes have been opened by pro- 
phetic prayer, they have had a vision of the 
spiritual forces God is marshaling to the con- 
quest and they realize that "they that be with 
us are more than they that be with them." 

Of course our old friend the Manufacturer 

is here, and all are attention as he rises to speak : 

"Brethren, this enthusiasm is all very well, 
34 



"LOOSE HIM" 35 



but we dare not shut our eyes to the fact that 
there is little or no increase in our regular col- 
lections from year to year. Since the present 
organization of the Board of Foreign Missions, 
six years ago, the Conference contributions, in- 
cluding Sunday schools, have increased from 
nine hundred and eighty-eight thousand eight 
hundred and fifty-six dollars in 1907 to only 
one million forty-six thousand one hundred and 
thirteen dollars in 1912, and this is a falling off 
of fifty-five thousand dollars as compared with 
the year 1910. We reached the lowest point 
in this six-years' period in 1909 and the highest 
in the next year. In short, we are oscillating 
about the million line and not getting on. Now, 
will some of you philosophers tell us what is 
the matter?" 

The chairman recognizes Judge Insight: 
"There is one feature of our present cam- 
paign that seems to me open to serious question. 
I mean our apportionment system. In my pro- 
fessional life I have had a good deal to do with 
the assessment of State taxes, and I declare to 
you, that while I have known thousands of men 
who, if need be, would die for their country, I 
have yet to meet one who enjoys paying taxes 
to support that country. Every citizen, no 
matter how loyal he may be, is displeased when 
his tax rate is increased, and wonders, 'Who is 
getting that graft, anyhow?' And the patriot 
is yet to be born who is not happy to have his 
tax rate lowered. Who ever heard of a subject 
or citizen in any land so filled with generous 
loyalty that he overpaid his tax bill ? 

"Now, without intending it, this newly or- 
ganized Apportionment Bureau has put the 
whole matter of official benevolences in the 



36 METHODIST MAN'S BURDEN 

minds of the average of preacher and people 
into the position of an assessment. Right here 
is the fatal weakness : the State can collect the 
last dollar of taxation, whether the citizen likes 
it or not, but if the members do not pay up, 
what can the church do about it?" 

Professor Wideview secures recognition with 
difficulty : 

"I think that Judge Insight has put his 
finger upon our Achilles's heel. The charac- 
teristic feature of the age in which we live is 
revolt against autocracy of every kind. We 
can no longer say to the church, 'Do this,' and 
'she doeth it.' Of all things, where people resent 
interference or dictation from another, it is in 
their giving. No wonder we are in a treadmill, 
wearily tramping in order to stand still!" 

Of course our friend Brother Vision is here: 
"There is a still more serious aspect to this 
important subject. The figures sent out in this 
way are almost universally looked upon as the 
ultimate goal. When reached by any charge 
or any district, the people concerned, with smug 
satisfaction, think they have done their whole 
duty to God and man. The average official 
member no more thinks of oversubscribing the 
apportionment than overpaying the coal bill or 
the sexton. Theoretically, the apportionment 
is the minimum, but when you print the ex- 
pense budget and the apportionments on every 
pledge card you send out to each member, there 
is only one impression that can be given, and 
that is that these are the sums asked for. No 
one thinks of raising more than is required for 
the expense budget. If there is a surplus, it is 
carried into the next year. If there is an excess 
in the benevolences, why not carry that also 



"LOOSE HIM" 37 

into the next year? This is actually done in 
many cases ! The worst handicap this system 
puts upon even our most generous givers is that 
it lowers their ideals and satisfies them with 
wholly inadequate standards of giving." 

"The Chair recognizes Doctor Middleroad!" 
"Brother Vision complains that this appor- 
tionment system puts our people's ideals down. 
Professor Wideview thinks it gets their 'backs 
up.' From a year's experience on my district 
I'm inclined to think that both are right. But 
the greatest loss is not to the treasuries of the 
benevolence boards, serious though that seems 
to be, but to the churches themselves. On my 
district this year with every stroke of our oars 
we have had this undertow pulling us back. It 
has even hindered our growth in membership. 
At the fourth Quarterly Conference in one of 
the leading charges a class of twenty-three 
Junior League boys and girls were recommended 
for full membership. Several of their fathers 
were in the Quarterly Conference. It was 
pointed out by the treasurer that to receive 
them now would add to the apportionment for 
next year, so it was decided to wait until after 
the Annual Conference. 

"A few days later, as I was going along the 
street, two boys in knickerbockers were just 
ahead of me. One said, 'Goin' to the Junior 
League this afternoon, Jimmie?' 'Naw ! What 
do you want to go there for, anyhow? They 
don't want us.' 'Aw, cut it! Miss Joy's all 
right.' 'Yes,' said Jimmie, 'there's nothin' the 
matter with her. But those old guys got to- 
gether the other night and talked about takin' 
us in to the meetin' house reg'lar, and some of 
'em said it would cost a pile, for none of us could 



38 METHODIST MAN'S BURDEN 

pay anything, so they got cold feet. They 
decided to take care of their dope an' let us kids 
wait. I'm done with 'em. Let's go to the 
movies.' 

"And they did. I went to my study and looked 
it up. It took a good while to figure it out, but 
I found it would have raised the church's appor- 
tionment for benevolences thirty-four cents for 
each of those twenty-three Juniors. God pity 
us ! Our children not worth three for a dollar 
to the church ! What will you do about a system 
that is capable of such abuse?" 

A hush falls over the great assembly and 
every gesticulating candidate for the floor 
quiets down as the Apostolic Veteran arises: 

"Mr. Chairman and Brethren, I have listened 
to the discussion of this vital question with 
intense interest. I do not dispute anything 
that has been said, but there is a deeper reason 
than has yet been given why the overworking 
of the apportionment system is fatal to our 
benevolences: It has not the sanction of God's 
Word. Even under the dispensation of the law, 
freewill offerings were the most acceptable. 
How much more under Grace ! Our Lord is 
quoted by Paul as saying, 'It is more blessed to 
give than to receive.' The first great apostle 
to the Christless nations gives most explicit 
instructions upon this subject to the church at 
Corinth. The Macedonian Christians had first 
set the example : 'Beyond their power they gave 
of their own accord.' Paul directs the Corin- 
thians, 'See that ye abound in this grace also,' 
but hastens to qualify the order by adding, 'I 
speak not by way of commandment.' And 
finally, this master-builder of the church for all 
ages and nations lays down the fundamental 



"LOOSE HIM" 39 

principle: 'Let each man do according as he 
hath purposed in his heart; not grudgingly, 
or of necessity ; for God loveth a cheerful giver.' 

"Now I submit that the present method of 
applying this apportionment system has ignored 
the scriptural instructions upon this subject. 
As Judge Insight has already pointed out, this 
autocratic mathematical apportionment tends 
to put the average official board in the attitude 
of a tax-payer trying to beat down the assessor 
to the lowest possible figure. No plan that we 
may adopt can succeed, even as men count suc- 
cess, that disregards the plain teaching of God's 
Word. The Holy Spirit leaves us to our own 
devices ; and without him we can do nothing." 

The treasurer of the Board of Foreign Mis- 
sions secures recognition: 

"Brethren, we have heard in turn from the 
Philosopher, the Historian, the Idealist, the Ad- 
ministrator, and the Prophet. All agree that 
there is something radically wrong in the way 
this apportionment method is being worked, 
but their theories would be of little value if the 
figures proved the opposite. I have made a 
careful study of the receipts of all the boards 
for the last quadrennium, 1908 to 1911 inclu- 
sive, and have compared the totals with the 
previous four years. Here are the figures: 

Loss in the collections from 

the congregations $15,127 

The gain from the Sunday 

school was 110,608 

This makes a net gain from regular 

sources of $95,481 

The gain in special gifts was 180,608 

The gain of the women's societies . . . 248,545 

Total gain $524,634 



40 METHODIST MAN'S BURDEN 

"We find the women's societies increasing a 
quarter of a million dollars, and special gifts 
more than one sixth of a million, and the Sun- 
day schools more than one tenth of a million. 
These three sources of income have been free 
from the pressure of the old apportionment 
system. The women voluntarily agree to raise 
these vast sums and the special gifts are entirely 
freewill offerings. No special proportion of 
the apportionments is allotted to the Sunday 
schools, and the children know nothing of the 
prodding from this quarter. It is to the col- 
lections from the congregations that the former 
apportionment has been applied, and we have 
here an actual decrease of fifteen thousand dol- 
lars ! The system in the past has failed to 
deliver the goods ; and now, instead of having 
less "of it, it is proposed to remedy previous 
disasters by working it harder and more scien- 
tifically! I submit that it has been weighed in 
the balances and found wanting. Let us find a 
more excellent way." 

Our old leader, the Manufacturer, is gladly 
given the platform: 

"We have about used up the apportionment 
system, and in the main I agree with the argu- 
ments presented. However, your attitude is 
not necessarily one of open rebellion against 
established order. The truth is that the fault 
lies with the abuse rather than with the use of 
this ingenious mathematical formula. The 
action of the General Conference and of the 
Finance Commission was that this should in- 
dicate the minimum standard. But it has been 
treated in such a way that the church looks 
upon it as the ultimate goal. It has its uses 
as a minimum to keep the willfully derelict 



"LOOSE HIM" 41 

from falling back. I can illustrate what I 
mean easier than I can define it: 

"I live in a hilly country, and in my auto I 
keep a small block of wood to use in case of 
accident on a hillside to prevent the machine 
from slipping back down hill. But I do not 
put the block into the gasoline tank! I know 
it has no power to push. Nor do I hang it up 
before the eyes of all my passengers, to make 
them think I am expecting a breakdown or that 
I will run out of gasoline. I hide it away where 
I can reach it in case of necessity, but nobody 
else knows it is there. 

"Now that is all a minimum apportionment 
is good for, simply a chock to keep the derelicts 
from retrograding. It has no real power for 
advance. The mistake is in putting out these 
tables to the general public. I doubt the wis- 
dom of sending them to the pastors at all. I 
would put them only in the hands of the dis- 
trict superintendents and let them use the chock 
in case of a breakdown, or an exhausted tank, 
until the machine is put in order or supplied 
with gasoline." 

"May I ask a question?" puts in a secretary 
of one of the boards. 

"Certainly." 

"You will admit, I presume, that there must 
be some sort of a standard set up, or we would 
have a go-as-you-please arrangement that 
would develop great inequalities and dissatis- 
faction. Now, if the apportionment system, 
as at present worked, is a failure, what will you 
substitute for- it?" 

"That is a perfectly fair question. Fortu- 
nately the contention of these speakers here 
this morning is neither treason nor rebellion. 



42 METHODIST MAN'S BURDEN 

We are only opposing a misapplication of a 
useful method. Of course we should have a 
standard. The General Conference of 1908 put 
a standard before the church in Paragraph 52 
of the Appendix. The editors of the Discipline 
of 1912 did not republish it, but the section of 
1908 was not rescinded at Minneapolis. The 
editors were authorized to edit, not to write, the 
Discipline, and their omission, which might have 
been accidental, does not nullify the legislation 
at Baltimore. Hear it and see for yourselves 
that we do not 'make the law of none effect; 
but we establish the law' : ' 

"We should accept the apportionments as 
the minimum requirement, a standard of what 
must be raised without peradventure, while at 
the same time we set before us the larger stand- 
ard of the Golden Rule, and, loving our neigh- 
bors as we love ourselves, seek to make our gifts 
for spiritual ministry to others equal our con- 
tributions for our own spiritual development, so 
that in every church the standard shall be as 
much for the benevolent work as for the sup- 
port of the local congregation. 

"Here is a standard that has lift in it. When 
you put up an ideal that has beneath it the 
Golden Rule, the most widely accepted of Chris- 
tian principles, you disarm criticism at the 
start. But when you present a definite sum 
figured out by mathematics, however ingenious, 
without regard to local conditions, even regen- 
erate human nature rebels. Let the 'Every- 
Member Canvass' committees and the pastors 
lovingly hold up before our people this 'reason- 
able service,' 'not by way of commandment,' 
but to be made a subject of prayerful thought 
around the fireside, at the family altar, in the 



"LOOSE HIM" 43 

'Morning Watch.' Ask each giver to consider 
how near he can approach 'for others' to that 
figure which he himself has decided he should 
do 'for himself.' The more he thinks and prays 
about it, the more reasonable it will appear. 
There is abundant room for advance on this 
basis, for our benevolences now reach only about 
five millions, while our current church expenses, 
exclusive of building, total nearly twenty-four 
millions. Here is an ideal more lofty than any 
apportionment committee ever would dare go, 
yet without arousing as much opposition as 
even the lowest man-made standard." 

A modest but masterful-looking layman 
secures recognition: 

"It has been my work for many years to 
superintend a reformatory for boys. We have 
no guardhouse. Our system of government is 
one of rewards. Our only form of punishment 
is withholding privileges. We have four grades, 
A, B, C, and D. Every boy enters in C Grade, 
and advances or falls back as he conducts him- 
self. Once in a while there is an incorrigible 
whom we turn over to the State Reformatory. 
It is astonishing how responsive these boys are 
to this system of appeal to the best in them to 
do their best. It seems to me that this is God's 
law for lifting men up. Why not the church of 
Christ? Let every pastoral charge whose 
benevolences reach one hundred per cent of its 
local budget be in A Grade, below one hundred 
per cent, but above seventy-five per cent, B 
Grade; below seventy-five per cent, but above 
fifty per cent, C Grade; below fifty per cent, 
but above twenty-five per cent, D Grade; below 
twenty-five per cent, unclassified. If our bad 
boys are made into good citizens by such 



44 METHODIST MAN'S BURDEN 

methods, what progress may we not expect with 
our millions of Methodist Christians!" 

Dr. Middleroad again secures an attentive 
hearing : 

"We are headed in the right direction now, 
and it seems to me I can feel the loosening of 
the 'grave-clothes.' They will drop off alto- 
gether when we get a system that gives justice 
to all and appreciates every sacrifice that any- 
body makes for the Kingdom. Let us hold 
aloft that divinely human and humanly divine 
standard : 'As for ourselves, so for others ; as 
for our own land, so for other lands.' Then let 
us give full credit for what anybody and every- 
body does. Our two women's societies raised 
nearly one and three quarter millions of dollars 
last year, yet all this does not count in the 
official benevolences ! Let us cease this 'baby 
act' policy and reckon in all that the people 
give 'for others' as over against their budget 
'for themselves.' Not a few churches would 
pass even the one hundred per cent mark if the 
work of the women was recognized. Then there 
are gifts for higher education other than 
through the Board of Education, that are for 
our own colleges, and why should such not be 
counted? The more we appreciate what people 
do, the more willing they are to do it again, and 
to do better." 

The Manufacturer has a proposition to offer: 
"Brethren, I move 

"First, That it is the sense of this Conven- 
tion that the apportionments be made as a mini- 
mum and be put into the hands of each district 
superintendent, to be used by him only in case 
of emergency. 

"Second, That we reaffirm the action of the 



'LOOSE HIM" 45 



Methodist Episcopal section of the National 
Laymen's Missionary Congress held in Chicago, 
May, 1910, and later indorsed by the benevo- 
lent boards of our church, that our goal is the 
standard raised by the General Conference of 
1908, 'As much for missions and other benevo- 
lences as for the local church budget.' 

"Third, That in order to make this standard 
effective, we urge the Commission on Finance 
to classify the charges upon this basis, in the 
manner suggested here a few minutes ago, or 
in some other way, as they may deem best ; and 
that credit be given in this classification for all 
authorized benevolences, including the women's 
boards and church educational enterprises. 

"It seems to me there is no need for further 
speech. We are now ready to ACT." 

"We will have a rising A^ote," declares the 
presiding officer. "All who favor this entire 
proposition arise!" 

Three thousand men are upon their feet — the 
key-men of Methodism. 

"Those who will pledge themselves to do all 
in their power, God helping, to achieve this 
standard in their home churches and in the 
church at large, as you stand, raise aloft your 
right hands." 

A forest of hands swing into the air. The 
great organ peals forth "Coronation," and three 
thousand men's voices shake the vast auditorium 
with : 

"All hail the power of Jesus' name, 
Let angels prostrate fall; 
Bring forth the royal diadem, 
And crown him Lord of all." 



VII 

"NEW HICKORY STREET" 

" "V" T hardly seems possible that it is only a 
3^ear since we met here in the last Fourth 
Quarterly Conference," remarks Dr. 
Middleroad, after the singing of "The Son of 
God goes forth to war, A Kingly crown to 
gain," and half a dozen voluntary half-minute 
prayers that pour out praise that could not be 
pent up. "Then we were circling around a 
tether where the grass had been eaten and tram- 
pled bare. We are now in pastures green and 
boundless. What is the report on membership?" 

Pastor Playfair comes up smiling: "We have 
a different story from last year; but I do not 
take much credit for it to myself. I have been 
but one of a hundred who have got new life in 
this joyful service. It began when Brother 
Vision came back from the great Laymen's Con- 
vention. He suggested that I call the brethren 
together for a conference in the light of the 
things done there. He told us of a great debate 
that was all on one side — " 

"Let me tell about that," breaks in Treas- 
urer Foresight. "I want Dr. Middleroad to 
know that I am not offended, but thankful for 
the speech he made. Brother Vision told, as 
gently as he could, but without varnish, how I 
had shut the door of the church in my boy's 
face for. a paltry thirty-four cents. It broke 
me all up. I saw how sordid I had become and 
how I had got into the habit of commercializing 

even these priceless things of life. I went home, 
46 



"NEW HICKORY STREET" 47 

but not to sleep. That night was my Geth- 
semane. I covenanted with my heavenly Father 
that if he would help me win back my boy, he 
might draw upon me for all I possessed. In 
future I would be only a steward of my Lord's 
goods, all subject to his order. I soon saw that 
if I would win my own boy I must be interested 
in his playmates as well ; and that meant their 
chums too, and every boy in town. I talked 
with Miss Joy, and found she was as broken- 
hearted about it all as I was. We hunted up an 
architect and had him figure on a junior annex 
to the church with gymnasium and reading- 
room, and an equipment that would 'compel 
them to come in.' I called the brethren together 
and told them that it would cost ten thousand 
and that I would put up half. They were 
glad to do the rest. We have our own 'movies' 
now. We've taken down the signs 'Keep off the 
grass.' We'll go to raising grass again when 
we have no more boys to raise. Several months 
ago Ave took in all that last year's twenty-three, 
and Jimmie and the rest have helped prepare 
thirty more, who will be welcomed to-morrow. 
Some of these are from poor families, children 
of immigrants, but they are men in the making, 
companions of our boys in school, citizens of 
our great republic and of the kingdom of God. 

"I have a shorter bank account than a year 
ago, but I have had more fun this year than in 
any five years of my life. That five thousand 
dollars, if left for Jimmie to spend after I'm 
gone, or perhaps before, might have helped 
him to buy a through ticket to perdition. I've 
put it where it paves a road that he and scores 
of other men's boys are glad to travel right up 
to the Eternal City." 

"I wish Brother Foresight's experience 



48 METHODIST MAN'S BURDEN 

might be told to every Christian father in 
America," says Dr. Middleroad, with deep feel- 
ing. 

Pastor Playfair resumes his story: "I was 
about to tell about our increase in membership. 
We have not had a sweeping revival, but we 
have had a lot of resurrections. You see, when 
the 'Every-Member Canvass' was arranged we 
found many names that we had dropped be- 
cause we wanted to prune the roll to keep down 
apportionments. Our men said, 'We have neg- 
lected these people until it is no wonder they've 
quit coming. We don't want to hunt them up 
now and ask them for money the first thing.' 
So we divided up the list among a dozen or more 
and began to cultivate them. Two thirds of 
them have come back, and we report them as 
increase, for they were not counted last year. 
With these twenty-seven and the fifty-two chil- 
dren, including to-morrow's bunch, and the two 
dozen adults received from probation and seven- 
teen *by letter, we report above losses for various 
cause a round hundred increase." 

"That is something to shout over ! Just the 
kind of growth that lasts !" exults Dr. Middle- 
road. "Now, how about the valuation of prop- 
erty?" 

The president of the Board of Trustees takes 
this as his opportunity for a confession: "I've 
been ashamed of my littleness all the year, 
Doctor. How contemptible to haggle over the 
fifty-thousand-dollars valuation, when every- 
body knows we could not duplicate this plant 
now for ten per cent more than that. I move 
that we restore the old figure which represents 
our investment and add ten thousand dollars 
for the new junior annex." 



"NEW HICKORY STREET" 49 

"It is unanimous. I wonder if you are 
equally of one mind regarding your pastor for 
next year?" cautiously inquires the chairman. 

"You need not go. We've talked it over and 
we want you to hear all we have to say about 
you," eagerly breaks in the Sunday school 
superintendent, and Pastor Play fair blushingly 
resumes his seat. 

"Last year some of us would have been pleased 
with a change. I was among them. I now 
see that the trouble was with ourselves. Wc 
were so sordid, self-centered, and lifeless, that 
no one could have pleased us long. This year 
we have had a new people and a new pastor." 

"Who could not preach to such hearers !" 
modestly exclaims Pastor Playfair. 

"How did it all come about?" asks Dr. Mid- 
dleroad. 

"We will have to go back to that little con- 
ference with which we started," explains Treas- 
urer Foresight. "Brother Vision simply told 
us the story. You have heard what that narra- 
tive did for me. We all saw the hollow mockery 
of our self-centeredness as a church. Then he 
pointed the way out. He told of the one hun- 
dred and fift}^ million foreign parish, and 
the fifteen million home parish all outside 
of our little locality. He said that those three 
thousand men had pledged themselves to do at 
least as much for the 'other fellow' at home and 
abroad as for their local congregations. None 
of us believed it would be possible for 'Old 
Hickory Street' to reach Class A the first year, 
but we agreed that we would give the people a 
fair chance. We would have the 'Every -Mem- 
ber Canvass and the Duplex Envelope and the 
Weekly Offering,' the methods that have sue- 



50 METHODIST MAN'S BURDEN 

ceeded so wonderfully elsewhere. We knew 
that we were not prepared for these things, but 
we asked the pastor to put in a month of culti- 
vation to get us all ready. We covenanted to- 
gether to pray daily for this work. We sent 
for the literature. What a lot of it there is, 
and how well got up ! We had Sunday evening 
platform meetings, and three or four of us 
would speak on different phases of the work 
previously assigned and prepared, using this 
fine literature. How the people opened their 
eyes ! What a big and needy world it is ! The 
frontier, the South, the cities, the country, all 
worse off than we! The one hundred and fifty 
millions in foreign fields made them stare and 
weep and forget themselves. Sunday after 
Sunday our pastor poured out his soul. No 
money was asked. A new experience for our 
people — a missionary sermon and no collection ! 
The prayer meetings filled up and boiled up. 
We had something to pray for besides ourselves. 
We were learning the blessedness of intercession. 

"Then came the 'last great day of the feast.' 
We met early and prayed, and then started for 
our work. Nobody was asked to give any fixed 
sum. For weeks the motto had been hung on 
the walls, 'As for Ourselves, so for Others ; as 
for Our Own Land, so for Other Lands.' It 
had been the deep undertone of all the teaching. 
It had become so familiar that it seemed like the 
most natural thing for a Christian to do. Some 
did more than that, others less, but cheerfully 
declaring that they would try to reach it another 
year. The weekly offering in bipocket envelope 
has become a habit now with most of us. 

"Results? Benevolences more than doubled 
and local expenses paid with a good balance in 



"NEW HICKORY STREET" 51 

the treasury. Would you believe it? There is 
actually a clear balance of four hundred dollars 
after all bills are paid! This is a new experi- 
ence for our treasury. We have not 'raised' 
any collections ; the collections seem to have 
'raised' us ! Now, I move that out of this bal- 
ance we increase our pastor's salary two hun- 
dred dollars for the year just closing, and that 
next year's salary be increased four hundred 
dollars. He has a boy going to college next 
year and can make good use of it no doubt, and 
he deserves it. No man ever gave more un- 
stinted service than he." 

"Are you all agreed?" 

"Yes !" shouts a chorus of voices. 

"We miss Deaconess Phoebe to-night," re- 
marks Dr. Middleroad. 

"Yes," rejoins Pastor Playfair. "As you 
know, she went to India six months ago. We 
thought we could not spare her at all, but she 
is more alive in 'Old Hickory Street' to-day 
than while she was among us. Her letters are 
eagerly heard in the congregation and passed 
from one to another. The Woman's Foreign 
Missionary Society has more than doubled its 
contributions in order to support her. Two of 
our best girls have gone to the Deaconess Train- 
ing School and another is taking nurse's train- 
ing. A young school teacher has gone to teach 
in one of our church schools in the South, sup- 
ported by the Woman's Home Missionary So- 
ciety; and two of our young men have begun 
preparations for the ministry, one being a 
student volunteer. Deaconess Phoebe is living 
in all these young lives dedicated to service and 
in scores of others who are following in her 
steps as she 'went about doing good' among us." 



OCT 23 1913 
52 METHODIST MAN'S BURDEN 



"What about the great college campaign? 
With your new building and increased benevo- 
lences you have not been able to help there too, 
have you?" 

"I thought at first," replies the treasurer, 
"that I had done my whole duty in putting up 
half of the junior annex, but then I considered 
that in a few years Jimmie would be going away 
from home, and where? What would all this 
amount to if he went to a Godless school and 
had his faith destroyed by unbelieving teach- 
ers? We consulted together, and ten of us 
agreed to put up two hundred apiece in four 
annual payments. Jimmie will be almost ready 
for college by the time the last payment is made. 
This puts five hundred dollars more into our 
benevolences this year." 

"Well, you are in Class A all right," remarks 
Dr. Middleroad as he sums up the totals; "but 
that is the smallest thing about the year's vic- 
tory. We must rechristen 'Old Hickory Street' 
and call it 'New Hickory Street.' The promise, 
'Behold, I will make all things new,' has been 
indeed fulfilled. We have no 'problems'; our 
one-time 'burdens' have become wings. We are 
finishing up our hour of jubilation at half-past 
eight. After the approval of the minutes 
Brother Vision will lead us in a few words of 
thanksgiving to our heavenly Father, and then 
let us have a half hour of tenpins and basketball 
with Jimmie and the Juniors. It will do us and 
them all good for us to be boys again. This eve- 
ning has made me feel twenty years younger. 
Would that all the parishes of Methodism might 
catch the Vision!" 



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